I'M REBEKAH
There's more to my story
than what happened to me.
If you know my name, there's a good chance you first heard it because of Boston. But it's only one chapter of a much bigger story. One shaped by family, survival, healing, humor, purpose and a lot of figuring things out as I go.
There's a whole life beyond the headline.
THE STORY YOU MAY KNOW
Everything changed in an instant.
Thirteen years ago, I was standing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon with my 5-year-old son when a bomb exploded just feet behind us. In that moment, I became a human shield, my body absorbing the blast that could have taken both of our lives.
What followed was months in the hospital, 76 surgeries and counting, and eventually the amputation of my left leg. I had to relearn how to walk, how to parent through pain and how to live in a body I didn’t recognize. And even now, that part of my story isn’t completely finished.
But surviving Boston was never going to be the whole story.
WHAT CAME NEXT
The story kept going.
So did I.
Over the years, survival became less about getting through the next surgery and more about figuring out what I wanted to do with the life I still had. That question has taken me onto stages around the world, into years of studying resilience and human behavior, into writing and into work with families navigating trauma of their own.
It also brought me back to the ordinary things that matter just as much: the people I love, raising a family, laughing at inappropriate times, changing my mind, starting over and learning that a meaningful life doesn’t have to be a perfectly healed one.
There was still so much life left to live -
even on my last leg.
WHAT SHAPED THE WORK
I didn't want to just talk about resilience.
I wanted to understand it.
Living through trauma gave me one perspective. Over the years, I wanted to understand the bigger picture: what research tells us about resilience, psychology, trauma, behavior change and the ways people adapt when life changes unexpectedly.
That curiosity eventually became part of everything I do. And through Rebekah’s Angels, I’ve had the privilege of learning alongside children and families navigating hard chapters of their own. The combination of lived experience, research, and years of listening has shaped the way I speak, teach, and think about what actually helps people move forward.
Living it taught me one thing. Studying it taught me so much more.
THE PEOPLE AT THE CENTER OF IT
I've survived a lot.
I haven't done it alone.
My family has walked through the fire with me. My husband, my two kids and the village that has held us up along the way. They’ve seen the surgeries, the hard days and the moments when I wasn’t sure how we would keep going.
After my 76th surgery, we spent seven months traveling around the world not to escape what we’d been through, but to embrace what was still here. I wanted my kids to see that even after terrible things happen, the world can still be beautiful. That fear doesn’t get to make every decision. That we can make the most of what we’re given scars, setbacks, and all.
They're also the reason I keep going. Every stage, every ounce of purpose, starts with them.
A LITTLE MORE ME
I take the work seriously.
Myself? Not quite as much.
Life has given me plenty of reasons to take things seriously. It’s also taught me not to miss the funny, ordinary, wonderfully imperfect parts along the way.
I BELIEVE IN HUMOR
I'M STILL FIGURING IT OUT
I WANT TO ACTUALLY LIVE IT
Especially when things get heavy. Sometimes laughing is the thing that lets us breathe again.
I don’t have life wrapped up in a neat little bow, and I’ve stopped pretending that’s the goal.
Not someday. Not when everything is fixed. Right in the middle of the life I have now.